Contrast w/ Reg 2d Echo? why?

[Hizzoze]

I had my echo today. Just a 2d reg echo. I had to lay in my left side majority of the time...which I thgt was strange.  The tech was trying to get several pics from under/side of my left breast & rib cage area. Apparently she couldnt get a good enough pic, so I had to get an Iv and they injected a little bit of this whitish contrast stuff. Then my heart was much easier to see. Anyone else ever have this happen? She said she does it a lot. She told me it is bc my boobs are big (38c) but I really cant imagine thats why?  Just wondering if anyone knows what would cause the doppler to not be able to pick up the images good enough, without contrast?!

[achillea]

You almost made me spew coffee on my keyboard!  Holy Old, indeed.  :-)

[Hizzoze]

Lol! That made me laugh. That is pretty much what the tech said. It shocked me, bc my friend who has HUGE 'anatomies' didnt even need the iv. And she is even heavier than me, in general. I never thgt of my boobs as being big. But you are right, they are mostly fat. Prob why when I was in HS, I was an A-B cup. 20 years & two kids later, I am a C cup. Omg, & i just realized, kids that are in their second year of college were being made when I grad HS!! HOLY OLD!!! :)

[achillea]

Nothing strange is going on.  Lying on your left side for an echo is normal.  The heart lies slightly on the left side, nearer the left ribs, and lying on your left side brings everything closer to the chest wall for better visualization.  The scanner has to be able to get the transducer as near as possible to the heart, with as little interference as possible.  Fat blocks energy transmission, and breast tissue is largely fat, so lifting, um, things out of the way to get the transducer really close is part of the routine.

But if the patient's individual anatomy makes it difficult to get a good picture, then you have to resort to an injected dye for more contrast and clarity.

[itdood]

I had to lay on left side for my echo too.  I'm not aware of any issues that would indicate contrast other than to get better pictures.